White Sox fans better be careful peddling Gerrit Cole nonsense as Yankees motivation

Gerrit Cole is a 13-year MLB vet with a Cy Young and two ERA titles under his belt. You'd think that, as he came back from the first Tommy John surgery of his storied career, his sole focus would be on returning to the Yankees rotation in full health in order to try and help the team get back to the World Series.

But that's where you're wrong, apparently. Because according to White Sox fans, he actually spent his rehab stint focused on settling scores with second-round picks who have yet to appear above Single-A. No, seriously.

In the run-up to Chicago's huge three-game set in the Bronx beginning on Tuesday night, the South Side isn't worried about their suddenly resurgent team or their odds of making a statement in the AL Central race. Instead, they're busy convincing themselves that, during a rehab appearance against the Winston-Salem Dash last month, Cole was so incensed about giving up a home run to infielder Caleb Bonemer that he intentionally threw at Bonemer in his next at-bat.

Hey, give them a break; it's been a while since anyone was paying attention to this team.

White Sox fans are in for a rude awakening this week after deranged Gerrit Cole conspiracy

The White Sox have been one of the feel-good stories of this season so far. Losers of 100-plus games in each of the last three years, Chicago's young core has taken a serious leap, entering the series opener against New York on Tuesday in first place in the Central at 38-32. On the surface, at least, this should be a marquee matchup featuring an up-and-coming team looking to prove it's got staying power against the current class of the AL.

Unfortunately, their fans are too busy writing inexplicable fan fiction. What seems more likely: that a pitcher coming back from Tommy John surgery would lose command of a fastball that was supposed to be on the inside corner, or that a pitcher coming back from Tommy John surgery would spend part of a valuable rehab assignment picking fights with 20-year-olds over a meaningless home run?

Cole has seen pretty much everything over the course of his baseball career. He's 35 years old now, coming off of major surgery. And who knows how many better chances he'll have at finally capturing his first World Series ring? In the midst of all that, do you really think he's going to risk his health and availability throwing at a guy whose name he probably didn't even know?

I get it: being back in contention for the first time in forever is exhilarating. White Sox fans are desperate for the attention, for feeling relevant. Be careful what you wish for, though, because the competition is about to ratchet up significantly — and you might not be chirping so loudly by the time the week's over.

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